Changes needed in Malaysia's electorial system

Malaysia’s future is at stake. The Bersih 2.0 rally (the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections) has already become a template for political transformation in one of Asean’s most advanced countries. What happened last Saturday will surely happen again because the Malaysians are fed up with the corrupted political process, which does not allow pluralism to exist at all. 

Despite the Malaysian government’s constant claim that the country is a democracy, the public cannot hold rallies because they are deemed to be illegal activities unless the organisers have gained official permission first. 

Some of these rules come from the colonial era. Since independence, the former British colony has been run and controlled by only one party, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO). Without any reservation, UMNO has used its power to consolidate and control all the political machinery in order to perpetuate its grip on power.

Meanwhile, most parts of the world – even in the Asean region – have moved on towards more open and democratic development, but Malaysia’s archaic political system remains unchanged. 

The Bersih 2.0 and last week’s rally demonstrate that there is an urgent need to ensure impartiality in the election process and to ascertain that the people’s votes are really the people’s votes, with no cheating. Therefore, the powerful Electoral Commission in Malaysia must reform its existing rules and regulations regarding the electoral roll, postal voting and the most controversial proposal of using indelible ink, which have all been bones of contention. Furthermore, all political parties should have access to the media, especially the state-controlled media, which can be very biased towards the government in power. Currently, it is only online news and bloggers which provide untainted news and analysis.

With the current situation in Malaysia, it was wholly ironic that in early April at the Phnom Penh Asean Summit, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tunku Razak had the audacity to credit the regional grouping for the ongoing political and economic transformation inside Myanmar. He said that Asean was the main driving force for change in the isolated pariah state. Prime Minister Najib should know by now that he has made a fool of himself and his country. Myanmar’s reforms of the past few months can indeed dwarf Malaysia’s political changes over the past decades. It would be much better for Najib to start to improve his own country’s political system and behaviour rather than try to take credit for the efforts of others elsewhere.

Given the seriousness of the issue, it was no surprise that former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohammad lashed out at the demonstrators and the so-called “foreign forces”. He, however, was way off the mark when he accused the Bersih movement of being out to topple the government in power. He knows well that Malaysia is not like Thailand in this respect, because there are tighter controls in the Malaysian political space. As a former national leader, he also understands well how powerful the people’s voice can be. Remember the reformation movement in 1999. Mahathir was no stranger when it came to political crackdowns.

Prime Minister Najib is very proud that Malaysia is Asean’s “oldest democracy” but the real situation in his country today does not reflect that boast in any way. 

The Bersih movement has already placed Malaysia in the global news headlines and, unless the government reacts correctly, it will remain so for some time to come. It would be wise for Najib to respond positively to the demands set forth by the movement because it can help restore the country’s democratic creditability. Electoral reform should, by itself, bring greater transparency and better governance to Malaysia